Credited with delivering one of the most imposing versions of Lex Luthor to ever face off against the Last Son of Krypton, Supa-Star Michael Cudlitz is one of the latest in a long list of stars to bring the beloved comic book villain to life.
And to be perfectly clear, we love ourselves a delectably diabolical Luthor. Not only is Cudlitz set to join us for Supanova in Melbourne (29-30 March), but we’ve played host to several other actors who’ve lent their talents to the megalomaniacal marauder of Metropolis over the years. In addition to Supa-Star favourite Michael Rosenbaum’s long running tenure on Smallville, previous Supanova alumni James Marsters and Jason Isaacs have both loaned their voices to the character in animated form.
Now with our latest Luthor set to join us alongside Superman himself, Tyler Hoechlin, we thought it might be timely to look back at the character’s rich history and highlight a few interesting titbits that most people probably never realised about DC’s greatest supervillain.
The Original Lex Luthor Was Also The Original Commissioner Gordon
Fans were recently elated to learn that Jason Momoa was being given a second bite at the DC cherry when his was officially confirmed as Lobo in 2026’s Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, but he’s far from the first actor to pull DC double duty. Long before Gene Hackman ever got his chance to play a big screen Luthor, the first actor to assume the role was Lyle Talbot in the 1950 film serial Atom Man vs. Superman.
Interestingly, however, Talbot also got the opportunity to bring another iconic DC character to life one year earlier in the 1949 serial Batman and Robin. While that particular serial was not the first time that Gotham’s Dark Knight was brought to life on screen, it was the first time that his long-time ally Commissioner Gordon appeared in live action, officially making Talbot the first actor to play two of DC’s best-known characters.
Lex Shares The Same Interior Designer As Obi-Wan Kenobi
It is not unusual for Hollywood productions to reuse key props and set pieces from other movies, but even the keenest eyed viewers may have missed the fact that Gene Hackman’s version of Lex Luthor and Alec Guinness’ Obi-Wan Kenobi both owned the same furniture. One of the most pivotal moments in 1977’s Star Wars: A New Hope shows Obi-Wan retrieving Anakin Skywalker’s lightsaber from an ornate chest before handing it on to Luke.
One year later, however, audiences would see the exact same chest serve as the lead-lined receptacle in which Luthor stored his Kryptonite to use against Christopher Reeve’s Superman. Eventually that coveted piece of movie history would find its way into the hands of a collector when it sold at auction in 2018 for $110,000 US.
Lex Nearly Got His Own ‘X-Files’ Style Prequel Show
Audiences are no strangers to Superman prequel shows, with both Smallville and Krypton offering a look at a time before Superman became Earth’s greatest superhero. However, back in 2018 the now defunct DC Universe streaming platform almost delivered viewers another prequel show that would have put Lex front and centre alongside a young Lois Lane.
Helmed by Gotham executive producers John Stephens and Danny Cannon, the show Metropolis was originally ordered straight to series by Warner Bros. and would have seen Lex and Lois team up to investigate the world of fringe science and the dark secrets lurking in the big city before Supes ever showed up to save the day. Sadly, however, work on the series was put aside in favour of the short-lived Swamp Thing series, and it was eventually cancelled altogether in 2019.
Robert Downey Jr. Almost Played Lex Luthor Before Tony Stark
Robert Downey Jr. may be swapping his Iron Man mask for that of Marvel’s diabolical Doctor Doom, but he was once the top pick to succeed Gene Hackman as the next big-screen Lex Luthor in 2006’s Superman Returns.
Before X-Men director Bryan Singer pitched the idea of Superman returning to earth after an extended absence, Warner Bros. had already begun pre-production on a Superman script penned by J.J. Abrams. Dubbed Superman: Flyby, this particular project was originally slated to be helmed by Charlie’s Angels director McG and would have seen RDJ tackle the role of Luthor years before he would turn the MCU’s Tony Stark into one of the best-known characters of all-time.
Gene Hackman’s Lex Luthor Wigs Weren’t Real
Diehard DC fans will already know that Lex Luthor’s bald head was originally a mistake attributed to 1940s comic strip artist Leo Nowak. Instead of drawing Luthor with his usual head of thick red-hair, Nowak mistook him for another character and depicted him as completely bald. This mistake, however, would later be worked into the character’s official lore by original Superman creator Jerry Siegel, and it is since become one of the character’s most defining traits.
However, when Hackman first landed the role in 1978’s Superman, he was none too fond of the idea of either shaving his head or wearing a bald cap throughout the majority of the production. Instead, Hackman’s Luthor is shown wearing a succession of “wigs”, that are, in fact, the actor’s own hair just styled in different outlandish ways. Eventually, however, Hackman would concede to wearing a bald cap briefly for the movie’s final scenes.
However, Hackman isn’t the only one to get away with playing Lex Luthor with a full head of hair. Years later, Lois & Clark’s version of Lex, played by John Shea, is also only shown once with a bald head, namely in the season 2 episode titled The Phoenix. Similarly, Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex is also depicted with hair throughout the majority of 2016’s Batman V Superman, only to have his head shaved in the movie’s final moments.